Making Christmas Ornaments 101

I had this idea in mind all year long, to create ornaments for Christmas.  I quickly realized it was going to be more trouble than I expected.  But that's OK, usually means the end result it going to be pretty special. 

I looked on Pinterest for "How To", went to Michael's to get supplies (acrylic paint), then just did a bit of "winging it".  I've never been very good at following instructions anyway.  I figured it couldn't go too wrong.  :)

 

 

I added a good bit of water to the paint bottles, but when I dripped it into the ornament, I realized this wasn't going to work.  The consistency just wasn't watery enough.

Surprisingly, more paint is needed than you think.  Even though the bottles are small and you think you need to conserve, the fact is, I used a TON of paint and I still have quite a bit left over.

I dripped a few drops of water in by straw, then put my thumb over the hole and SHOOK and WIGGLED it and did some creative moves in order to get the paint to completely cover all the surface.

Once finished, I transferred the excess water into a new one.  I originally wanted only one or two colors to mix within, but obviously, when they all share the same water, that's just not possible. :)

By the end, I mixed most of the colors together: Rose, Purple, Turquoise, Silver and Confetti.  I was hoping the colors would stay lined up, but water changes everything.  :)

Yay, all finished, yet still needs to dry at least a day, but mine dried about two days. 

First, upside down in the packaging it came in (so the excess paint could drip out).  Second, (day 2) on its side to allow airflow into the orb.

I used something that Michael's called twine.  It's not what I had envisioned, but luckily it turned out better than expected.  On some of them, I used white puff paint and wrote, "2012."  I hung one of the "duds" on my tree.  The light sparkling through looks really good.  Yay me!  I'm quite pleased with the finished product.